Applying principles of vaccine development to oncomicrobial vaccines

Considerable global cancer burden is attributable to infectious agents, or oncomicrobes, which provides an opportunity to limit cancer by vaccination. Hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus vaccines exemplify this strategy, by significantly reducing cases of liver and cervical cancer, respectively, and highlight the potential of extending this approach to other oncomicrobial targets. However, to date, effective vaccines against other well-established oncomicrobes have not been developed, and novel oncomicrobes continue to emerge. In this review, we provide an overview of vaccination and vaccine design, with an emphasis on the key factors (vaccine type, antigen selection, administration route, and vaccination timing) to consider when developing oncomicrobial vaccines, and we summarize the current state and future directions of vaccination for several established and emerging oncomicrobes.